Cold formed, dual seal anchor and method of making

ABSTRACT

A cold formed anchor for use in an insulated cavity wall includes a unitary body formed with a driver portion and having large and small diameter portions. The driver portion may be formed with structure for connecting a veneer tie to the anchor. A method of making the cold formed anchor includes cold forming a driver portion and a reduced diameter portion from a blank.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/692,406, filed Jun. 29, 2018, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a wall anchor used in afacade support system of a building, and more specifically, to a methodused to create the wall anchor.

BACKGROUND

A facade can be a durable and aesthetically desirable construction for abuilding exterior. Facades, such as brick or stone veneer walls, alsoprovide protection to the interior of the building from the surroundingenvironment. Anchoring systems, such as veneer ties, are used to securefacades to inner walls of a building to overcome forces which might pullthe facade away from the building. These anchoring systems extend fromthe inner wall of the building to the facade. Generally, anchoringsystems, such as veneer ties are connected to the inner wall with a wallanchor or fastener, which is secured to the inner wall. Generally,veneer ties have one end secured to the wall anchor and the other endsecured to the facade to prevent the facade from moving relative to theinner wall.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a method of making an anchor for use in an insulatedcavity wall, the method generally comprises cold forming a driverportion of the anchor out of a length of metal at a distal end of thelength of metal. The driver portion is configured to be engaged to drivethe anchor into an inner wythe of the insulated cavity wall. A reduceddiameter portion is cold formed out of the length of metal at a proximalend of the length of metal where the proximal end is opposite the distalend.

In another aspect, a cold formed anchor for use in an insulated cavitywall, the anchor generally comprises a unitary body formed with a driverportion configured to be engaged to drive the anchor into an inner wytheof the insulated cavity wall. A large diameter barrel portion extendsfrom the driver portion. A small diameter barrel portion is configuredto be driven into the inner wythe of the insulated cavity wall and atransition portion is located between and interconnects the largediameter barrel portion and the small diameter barrel portion.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be in partapparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective of an anchoring system as applied to a cavitywall with an inner wythe and outer wythe, the anchoring system includingseveral wall anchors; and

FIGS. 2A-2E illustrate the steps for forming the wall anchor accordingto one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the drawings.

DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, an anchoring system constructed according toone embodiment of the present disclosure is generally indicated byreference numeral 10. The anchoring system 10 comprises a wall anchor40, an interengaging veneer tie 44, and a veneer (outer wythe)reinforcement 46. The anchoring system 10 is disposed in a cavity wallstructure 12. The cavity wall structure 12 is shown having an innerwythe or drywall backup 14 with sheetrock or wall board 16 mounted onmetal studs or columns 17 and an outer wythe or facade 18 of brick 20construction. Between the inner wythe 14 and the outer wythe 18, acavity 22 is formed. An air/vapor barrier 25 is attached to the exteriorsurface of the wallboard 16. Insulation 26 is disposed within the cavity22. The air/vapor barrier 25 and the wallboard 16 together form theexterior layer of the inner wythe 14, the exterior layer has theinsulation 26 disposed thereon (e.g., the cavity wall structure is aninsulated cavity wall). It will be understood that the cavity wall mayhave other constructions besides the illustrated construction within thescope of the present disclosure. For example, the inner wythe 14 mayincluding wooden studs (not shown) or the inner wythe may be of concreteor concrete block construction. In another example, the cavity wall mayhave an insulative layer of 1 to 8 inches (2.5 to 20 cm) (approx.) and atotal span of 1.75 to 8.75 inches (4.5 to 22 cm) (approx.). Theanchoring system 10 interconnects the inner and outer wythes 14, 18. Asshown in FIG. 1, the cavity wall structure 12 includes a plurality ofanchoring systems 10.

The outer wythe 18 includes successive bed joints 30 and 32 that aresubstantially planar and horizontally disposed and, in accord withbuilding standards, are 0.25 to 0.50 inches (0.6 to 1.3 cm) (approx.) inheight. Selective ones of bed joints 30 and 32, which are formed betweencourses of bricks 20, receive the insertion portion of the veneer tie44. Being threadably mounted in the inner wythe 14, the wall anchor 40is supported thereby and, as described in greater detail herein below,is configured to minimize air and moisture penetration around the wallanchor/inner wythe interface.

For purposes of discussion, the exterior surface of the air/vaporbarrier 25 contains a horizontal line or x-axis 34 and intersectingvertical line or y-axis 36. A horizontal line or z-axis 38, normal tothe xy-plane, passes through the coordinate origin formed by theintersecting x- and y-axes. The veneer tie 44 is shown with a U-shapedrear leg portion 42 used to connect the veneer tie to the wall anchor40. The wall anchor 40, while shown as a unitary structure ofhigh-strength steel may be manufactured as an assemblage of severaldistinct parts.

The veneer tie 44 is adapted from one shown and described in Hohmann,U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,319 which patent is incorporated herein byreference. The veneer tie 44 is shown in FIG. 1 as being emplaced on acourse of bricks 20 in preparation for embedment in the mortar of bedjoint 30. In this embodiment, the anchoring system 10 includes a wire orouter wythe reinforcement 46, the wall anchor 40 and the veneer tie 44.The wire reinforcement 46 is constructed of a wire formative conformingto the joint reinforcement requirements of ASTM Standard SpecificationA951-00. The veneer tie 44 may have other constructions within the scopeof the present disclosure.

At intervals along the inner wythe 14, wall anchors 40 are driven intoplace in anchor-receiving channels (e.g., holes) that extend through thewall board 16 and insulation 26. The wall anchors 40 are positioned onor within the inner wythe 14 so that the longitudinal axis of the wallanchor is normal to an xy-plane and taps into stud 17.

Referring now to FIG. 2E, the wall anchor 40 extends from a driven end52 (e.g., proximal end) to an opposite, driver end 54 (e.g., distalend). A small diameter barrel portion 56 of the wall anchor adjoins(e.g., defines, extends distally from) the driven end 52. The smalldiameter barrel portion 56 is configured to be driven into the innerwythe 14 of the insulated cavity wall 12. The small diameter barrelportion 56 may be externally threaded, which enables the wall anchor 40to threadably engage the inner wythe 14, specifically one of the studs17. In the illustrated embodiment, the wall anchor 40 includes aself-tapping tip at the driven end 52. A larger diameter barrel or shaftportion 60 is located closer to the driver end 54 than the smalldiameter portion 56. A transition portion 76 (FIG. 2D) extends betweenand interconnects the barrel portions 56 and 60. The transition portion76 provides a smooth transition between the different diameters of thebarrel portions 56, 60 which is believe to minimize any damage to theinner wythe 14 that may be caused by driving the wall anchor 40 into theinner wythe. In the illustrated embodiment, the transition portion 76has a conical frustum shape, although other shapes are within the scopeof the present disclosure. At or at some location along the transitionportion 76 (e.g., at the juncture of barrel portions 56 and 60), aflange 62 is disposed. The flange 62 extends radially outward from thetransition portion 76 and is configured to engage a portion of the innerwythe 14 to form a fluid tight seal therewith. In the illustratedembodiment, a stabilizing neoprene fitting or internal seal 64 abuts theflange 62. The internal seal 64 may be mounted on or secured to theflange 62 or the internal seal may be mounted on the large diameterbarrel portion 60 and contact (e.g., engage) the flange 62. The seal 64abuts a distal face of the flange 62. The seal 64 is configured toengage a portion of the inner wythe 14 and form the fluid tight sealtherewith. When fully driven into stud 17 the threaded small diameterportion 56 of wall anchor 40 pierces sheetrock or wallboard 16 andair/vapor barrier 25. The seal 64 engages the air/vapor barrier 25 andthe transition portion 76, and covers the insertion point precluding airand moisture penetration therethrough and maintaining the integrity ofbarrier. Further, the flange 62 may act as a stop that engages a portionof the inner wythe 14, such as the air/vapor barrier 25, to prevent thewall anchor 40 from being driven to far into the inner wythe.

At the driving end 54, a head or driver portion 66 adjoins the largediameter barrel or shaft portion 60. The driver portion 66 is configuredto be engaged, such as by a tool, to drive the wall anchor 40 into theinner wythe 14 of the insulated cavity wall. The large diameter barrelportion 60 extends distally from the driver portion 66. The driverportion 66 is also configured to be secured to or receive a veneer tie44. In the illustrated embodiment, the driver portion 66 defines anaperture 74 sized and shaped to receive a portion (e.g., the leg portion42) of the veneer tie 44. In this manner, the veneer tie 44 and wallanchor 40 can be connected together.

The wall anchor 40 includes a flange 68 is disposed at the connectionbetween the driver portion 66 and the large diameter barrel portion 60(broadly, the flange is part of the driver portion). The flange 68extends radially outward from the large diameter barrel portion 60. Theflange 68 is configured to engage the insulation 26 of the inner wythe14 to form a fluid tight seal therewith. In the illustrated embodiment,a stabilizing neoprene fitting or external seal 70 abuts the flange 68.The external seal 70 may be mounted on or secured to the flange 68 orthe external seal may be mounted on the small diameter barrel portion 56and contact (e.g., engage) the flange 68. The seal 70 abuts a proximalface of the flange 68. The seal 70 is configured to engage a portion ofthe inner wythe 14 and form the fluid tight seal therewith. Uponinstallation into the rigid insulation 26, the larger barrel portion 60is forced into a press fit relationship with anchor-receiving channelthat extends through the insulation. Stabilization of this stud-typewall anchor 40 is attained by barrel portion 60 and internal seal 64completely filling within the channel, with the external seal 70 cappingthe opening or entry of the channel by engaging the exterior surface ofthe insulation 26 (FIG. 1), securing the wall anchor in place. Thisarrangement does not leave any wiggle room for pin-point loading of thewall anchor 40. With a stabilizing fitting (e.g., external seal 70) inplace, the insulation integrity within the cavity wall 12 is maintained.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A-2E, a process for forming the wall anchor 40is shown, with the completed or finished wall anchor shown in FIG. 2E.The wall anchor 40 is formed as a one-piece component. In other words,the wall anchor 40 has a unitary body. The wall anchor 40 may be formedfrom steel coil of a certain diameter, such as 0.2 inches (5.3 mm). Inother words, in one embodiment, the wall anchor 40 may be formed from alength of material (e.g., a blank), such as a length of metal or othersuitable material, having a generally circular cross-sectional shape.Preferably, the diameter of the length of material matches or closelymatches a final dimension of at least one portion of the wall anchor 40,in order to reduce or minimize the number of steps required to form thewall anchor. Generally, the wall anchor 40 is created by cold forming.Cold forming includes one or more of stamping, squeezing, shearing,drawing, punching and bending. Using one or more of these processes,individually or at the same time, the blank is shaped to form the wallanchor 40. Cold forming is done in steps or stages, with each stepshaping the blank until the wall anchor 40 is formed. For example, oneor more of the steps may include pressing the blank between dies toforce the blank or a portion thereof into a specific shape. Cold forminggenerally occurs while the material being worked or shaped (e.g., theblank) is at or near room temperature.

In the first step, a section of the steel coil is cut off to form ablank (e.g., a length of material having a circular cross-section, suchas a rod) used to make the wall anchor 40. Next, the driver portion 66is cold formed out of the length of material (e.g., the blank) at adistal end of the length of material (e.g., metal). In this step, theflange 68 may also be formed (e.g., the flange 68 and driver portion 66are generally formed simultaneously). In other words, the blank is coldformed to form the flange 68 adjacent to the driver portion 66. In oneembodiment, the driver portion 66 and flange are formed in a sequence ofstamping operations. The shape of the blank 100A after this step isillustrated in FIG. 2A. Next, the formation of the driver portion 66 iscompleted by forming (e.g., cold forming) an aperture 74 in the driverportion. This may be done by cutting and removing (e.g., punching) aportion of the blank 100A to form the aperture 74. The shape of theblank 100B after this step is illustrated in FIG. 2B.

Next, a reduced diameter portion (e.g., small diameter barrel portion56) is cold formed out of the blank 100B (e.g., length of material) atthe distal end of the blank. In particular, a proximal end portion ofthe blank 100B is compressed to begin formation of the small diameterbarrel portion 56. At the same time, the transition portion 76(broadly,) begins to be cold formed out of the blank 100B. This may alsobe done by compressing the portion of the blank 100B. The shape of theblank 100C after this step is illustrated in FIG. 2C. Before thecompletion of the formation of the wall anchor 40 from the blank, thetransition portion 76 (or more specifically, the portion of the blankthat will make up the transition portion) is, broadly, the intersectionof the reduced diameter portion of the length of material and theremainder of the length of material. Moreover, it is understood that allthe parts of the blank, at any step of the cold forming process, may bereferred to as portions, sections, remainders, segments, lengths, etc.before said parts of the blank are formed into the components of thewall anchor 40.

Next, further compression (broadly, cold forming) is applied to theblank 100C to form the small diameter barrel portion 56 and thetransition portion 76 into their final dimensions and shapes. The shapeof the blank 100D after this step is illustrated in FIG. 2D. In oneembodiment, the initial diameter of the blank matches the diameter ofthe large diameter barrel portion 60 such that no portion of the blankneeds to be shaped by cold forming to form the large diameter barrelportion. In other embodiments, the large diameter barrel portion 60 iscold formed out of the length of material (e.g., the remainder of thelength of material not used to form the small diameter barrel portion 60and transition portion 76), such as by compressing a portion of theblank. This may be similar to the way the small diameter barrel portion56 is formed. If the large diameter barrel portion 60 is cold formed,the cold forming of the large diameter barrel portion may occur before,simultaneously with or after the formation of the small diameter barrelportion 56 and transition portion 76. Generally, the size and shape ofthe blank 100D generally corresponds to the size and shape of the wallanchor 40 after this step (e.g., the driver portion 66, flange 68, largediameter barrel portion 60 and transition portion 76 are all completelyformed). It will be understood that a greater or fewer number of coldforming steps may be used to give the wall anchor 40 its final shape andsize and such greater or fewer steps are within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the steps may be conducted in a different order.

Next, the external threads are formed (e.g., cold formed) on the reduceddiameter portion of the blank 100D to complete the formation of thesmall diameter barrel portion 56. In one embodiment, the reduceddiameter portion is cut to form threads. In another embodiment, theexternal threads are formed by rolling. Moreover, the self-tapping tipof the wall anchor 40 is formed (e.g., cold formed) at the proximal endof the reduced diameter portion. This may occur before or after thethreads are formed on the reduced diameter portion. Next, in theillustrated embodiment, a washer is applied (e.g., attached) to thetransition portion (e.g., the washer is attached to the length ofmaterial generally at the intersection of the reduced diameter portionof the length of material and the remainder of the length of material).The washer forms the flange 62. Accordingly, in the illustratedembodiment, the flange 62 is not formed from the blank but is a separatepiece of material attached to the blank 100D. In other embodiments, theflange 62 may be formed from the blank, similar to the formation offlange 68. In other words, flange 62 being formed as one piece out ofthe blank is within the scope of the present disclosure. Finally, ifincluded, the external seal 70 is positioned to abut against a distalsurface of the flange 68 (e.g., mounted on the blank) and the internalseal 64 is positioned to abut against the flange 62. As this point, asshown in FIG. 2E, the formation of the wall anchor 40 is finished andthe wall anchor is ready to be used in an anchoring system, as shown inFIG. 1. Although a certain order of steps is described herein, the ordercould be varied as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in theart.

Having described the invention in detail, it will be apparent thatmodifications and variations are possible without departing from thescope of the invention defined in the appended claims. For example,where specific dimensions are given, it is understood these dimensionsare illustrative and other dimensions are within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

When introducing elements of the present invention or the preferredembodiments(s) thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” areintended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms“comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive andmean that there may be additional elements other than the listedelements.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained. Asvarious changes could be made in the above products and methods withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of making an anchor for use in aninsulated cavity wall, the method comprising: cold forming a driverportion of the anchor out of a length of metal at a distal end of thelength of metal, the driver portion configured to be engaged to drivethe anchor into an inner wythe of the insulated cavity wall; coldforming a reduced diameter portion of the length of metal at a proximalend of the length of metal, the proximal end opposite the distal end;cold forming a large diameter barrel portion out of the length of metal;cold forming a transition portion out of the length of metal, thetransition portion extending between and interconnecting the largediameter barrel portion and the reduced diameter barrel portion;attaching a washer on the transition portion; and abutting a washer sealagainst a distal face of the washer, the seal configured to engage aportion of the inner wythe and form a fluid tight seal therewith.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein at least one of the cold forming, the driverportion, the reduced diameter portion, the large diameter barrel portionand the transition portion includes one or more of stamping, squeezing,shearing, drawing, punching and bending.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising cold forming a first flange adjacent to the driverportion.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising cold forming anaperture in the driver portion configured to receive a veneer tie. 5.The method of claim 4, further comprising abutting a flange seal againsta distal face of the first flange, the seal configured to engage aportion of the inner wythe and form a fluid tight seal therewith.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the transition portion has a conical frustumshape.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the length of metal has acircular cross-sectional shape.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising cutting the length of metal from a metal coil.
 9. The methodof claim 1, further comprising forming threads on the reduced diameterportion.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the transition portiontapers between the large diameter barrel portion and the reduceddiameter barrel portion.